News & Features

"There are 242 schools in the School District of Philadelphia. Only 16 librarians are left standing across that line. And what my [former] city colleagues tell me, is that NO Philadelphia public high schools have certified school librarians," writes Joyce Valenza. "Consider this divide."

October is National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month, when organizations nationwide unite to raise awareness on how, with education and support, bullying can be obliterated from schools and communities. SLJ has compiled a list of tools for educators and parents, which includes advice on collection development, plus news and feature articles highlighting authors’ efforts against bullying.

Scenario Learning is offering free bullying prevention resources to every school in October and November. Nominations are open for the American Library Association's Excellence in Library Programming Award until December 1. The Young Adult Library Services Association’s 2014 Young Adult Literature Symposium is now accepting program proposals through November 1. The Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee is looking for new members to participate in various capacities.

Nick Podehl masterfully narrates the audio version of Leslie Stella’s Permanent Record, a realistic novel about the effects of bullying on an Iranian-American teenager in Chicago.

How Washington State teacher librarians redefined their roles, organized, and created an outstanding advocacy model for all.

School librarian leaders from across the country made their way to the Austin, TX, aka the “Live Music Capital of the World,” on September 28–29 to attend SLJ’s annual Leadership Summit, where they discussed the future of libraries and how partnership is a necessary ingredient for stakeholder success. Throughout the weekend, participants—speakers, sponsors, panelists, and attendees—honed their conversations around the transformative power of collaboration.

Impassioned, creative, dynamic, evolving and cool—these are just some of the words that the sponsors of SLJ’s annual Leadership Summit used to describe their companies’ latest developments. Joyce Valenza, SLJ blogger and teacher librarian, lead a panel discussion with the companies to examine the relationships between vendors and schools, the importance of strong content, and the ways that vendors can help educators in support of the Common Core.

Blockbuster author James Patterson treasures school libraries—and challenges you to help preserve them.

Innovative school librarians invaded Austin, Texas en masse from September 28-29 for School Library Journal’s ninth annual Leadership Summit. With invigorating presentations by journalist Annie Murphy Paul, author of the forthcoming Brilliant: The New Science of Smart (Crown, 2014) and Colorado State associate professor Antero Garcia, library leaders gathered together to discuss and plan for the future of education and the profession. Take a sneak peek at some of the scenes from the weekend with a slideshow from the Summit.